DJ Shabbytiger was respected, influential in underground music scene

Respected and influential local indie DJ, sometime musician, visual artist and former KSYM radio personality Jason R. Gonzales, known to his fans as DJ Shabbytiger, died unexpectedly from an apparent heart attack Thursday.

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To his friends, Gonzales will always be DJ Shabbytiger, a fixture on the underground scene and an avid supporter of bands and experimental artists. His tastes ran toward post-punk, alternative, shoegaze, emo and electronic music.

“Jason epitomized San Antonio. He wasn't a hipster, he was just hip,” said Brian Parrish, radio host of “The Casbah” on KSYM, the San Antonio College radio station where Gonzales worked in the mid-1990s.

“He loved this town. I just can't imagine not seeing him around anymore. Everyone loved him.”

Musician Phillip Sada befriended Gonzales at Southwest Middle School in the late 1980s and early '90s when “me, him and two other guys were the only group of skater-punk, New Wave kids in the school.”

Sada echoed the sentiments of many in the underground music scene who considered Gonzales (who lived in the small community of Macdona in Southwest Bexar County) “an original.”

“He was definitely a purist,” said Sada. “He was just so cool. He was just a super sweet, super creative guy. He’s probably the most original guy I ever knew. He was the original, man.”

Jeff Smith, frontman of the Hickoids, remembered Gonzales “as a nice guy” and “off the wall.”

Viridiana Rivera played in the short-lived experimental instrumental band Gamera with Gonzales some 12 years ago. Gonzales played drums.

“We always talked about getting back together,” said Rivera, adding that Gonzales loved music and art. “If he wasn’t painting something, he was making music. If he wasn’t making music, he was talking about music or spinning records. That was the focal point of his life. He was a very genuine person.”

Artist Andy Benavides described his friend as “complex, kind, supportive, attentive to all.” Benavides is dedicating this month’s Second Saturday event at his 1906 Gallery on South Flores Street to Gonzales as a tribute.

Eddie “DJ Plata” Hernandez often caught DJ Shabbytiger’s late-night residency Sundays at The Mix on the St. Mary’s Strip. He last saw him spin old vinyl there a week ago, an off-beat collection of obscure '80s and New Wave music.

They’ve been friends since the halcyon days of Taco Land and Saluté.

“He was real cool. He was on top of a lot of good music. He was always turning me on to stuff,” said Hernandez. “He was a fixture on the scene. He’s going to be missed.”